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JAMAICA: Help for the country's unborn following abortion threat
By John Newton
Father Richard Ho Lung, founder of the Missionaries of the Poor
A centre caring for expectant mothers and their unborn babies is the latest development in a pro-life campaign responding to pressure from international agencies to liberalise Jamaica's abortion laws.
Help from a number of sources, including a grant from Aid to the Church in Need of more than £25,000, enabled the Missionaries of the Poor to build the Holy Innocents Women in Crisis Centre, which is expected to open in January 2012.
The centre in Kingston, Jamaica, will be able to accommodate 20 mothers and their babies, as well as having facilities to provide day care for up to 200.
Father Richard Ho Lung, founder of the Missionaries of the Poor, said: "It turned out to be a very beautiful building, with the facilities to counsel women, to house the women if it is necessary – whether temporarily or longer – and to take care of their babies and offer them services right through their pregnancy."
Father Ho Lung described how the Missionaries of the Poor's plans to care for the unborn – in which the centre will play a key role – developed in response to a determined push by international agencies to pressure Jamaica's government into changing the country's abortion laws.
Father Ho Lung discovered humanitarian aid to Jamaica was being tied to preconditions that the government would liberalise abortion – under current laws termination can only occur where there is foetal abnormality, a threat to the health of the mother, or if pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
The founder of the Missionaries of the Poor said: "I called it 'blood money', because international aid was now being tied up with international family planning agencies who espoused abortion."
"The European Union and US AID must not have conditions tied to aid for building schools, or fixing roads, or helping hospitals, and so forth – and I called it interference in the running of our country's life and politics."
Father Ho Lung described how the Missionaries of the Poor organised doctors, nurses, teachers, students and Christians across the ecumenical spectrum to oppose any liberalisation of abortion – and the government shelved plans after a poll showed 65 percent of Jamaicans opposed any change in the law.
However, after the campaigning was over Father Ho Lung felt that they needed to offer mothers an alternative to abortion.
Father Ho Lung said: "It seemed to me it was not enough just to say it's wrong but that there had to be a positive, practical response."
He described how a small community of Sisters had come into existence nine months ago as a result of the Missionaries of the Poor's pro-life work. The Sisters have taken a lead role in caring for babies and their mothers.
While the Holy Innocents Centre is not yet fully operational, a clinic is already being run from the building and the Sisters attend to 80 to 100 expectant mothers every week.
Father Ho Lung said: "We have six Sisters now – and we have many who are requesting to join us, which was a surprise in Jamaica which is not very Catholic."
The Missionaries decided to limit the new community to a few Sisters until its first members are well formed in spiritual life and "really understand their commitment to the homeless and destitute as well as women and babies who are in great need."
Father Ho Lung said: "I think it's God's way of acting. I never thought of forming a community of Sisters – we have 600 brothers right now."
He emphasised that the care given by the Sisters is free as will be all the facilities at the new centre – and went on to thank Aid to the Church in Need for its support.
He said: "Whether it's medical services or something else all things are done free.
"People see this as a miracle of faith, that so much gets done just by simply trusting in the Lord and trusting in Christ working in the lives of generous people.
"And that's where I think Aid to the Church in Need really is a most helpful agency, they have been one of our most important charitable agencies, helping the Missionaries of the Poor."